Kevin McMahon
Phil. 308m
What was
considered by some views to be verbal magic was actually more religious than
magical. Claire Fanger discussed the
power of words in her dissertation.
Although Fanger discussed the ideas of
Platonic and Neo-Platonic ideas were the glasses through which many of the writers that Fanger discussed looked at magic. For example, in Al-Kindi’s writing on the power of words he said that all words had an effect even if imperceptible. He also followed by saying that using the word in conjunction with the constellation assigned to it, it will have a greater effect. This flows from astrological beliefs. William of Auvergne said that the power of words came from either their form or their material. Again, the concept of forms comes directly from Plato.
The grand dichotomy between magic and science was caused by a paradigm shift in our belief system. We no longer base our view of the world on the ideas of Plato, Aristotle and the Neo-platonists. Today we view the world from a “scientific” view. This paradigm problem can also describe the rift between magic and religion. If we look at the world through the eyes of the Bible, we can see how words have power for different ways. Words do not have to be magic, power can flow from God himself as the natural way of the universe. Under this paradigm, anyone has the power if they believe that God gave it to them. Magic is not power that comes from God.
The Bible itself
pays a lot of attention to words and things we say. According to James Strong’s “Concordance of
the Bible” the word “said” appears in the Bible almost four thousand times. The word “words” and “word” combine to over
twelve hundred times. The words “say”
and “saying” appear over fifteen hundred times.
When we consider the length of the Bible, this might not seem like much
until we consider that both the words “Christ” and “
In the very first
chapter of the Bible we see evidence of power in words. Genesis 1:3 reads “And God said, ‘Let there
be light,’ and there was light.” It was
through the power of God’s word that light was created; it was not through
mixing of chemicals or any other means but by what he said. Every day that Genesis records God creating
something starts with the phrase “God said.”
According to the apostle John (1:1) “In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Not only was it by the word of
God that the universe was created, but the Word was God, and therefore all
power stems from the word. Genesis
The book of
Proverbs is also very hefty with references to “words” and “mouth.” God’s word in proverbs and elsewhere set
forth how words can destroy or give life if not used properly. Even if one does not understand why, what
they say matters. For example, Proverbs
11:9 says “With his mouth the godless destroys his neighbor.” Also in
From words not
only do life and death spring, but also your words are the key to everything
most people want in life. There is a
computer term WYSIWYG which means, “what you see is what you get.” WYSIWYG can also sum up what God was talking
about in the old testament, only we have to change one word. God meant “what you say is what you
get.” Proverbs
Sometimes the
power of words are so great that they can almost match the power of God. The very first example shows up again in the
first book of the Bible. Chapter 11 is
the story of the
Another prime example of God fearing the power of human words appears in the new testament. In the beginning of Luke we see an angel come down from heaven to reveal God’s plan to Zechariah. Zechariah’s wife Elizabeth was to be the mother of John the Baptist. Zechariah argued in disbelief. He spoke of how old both he and his wife were. Because of his disbelief, God feared what his words might bring about so he struck him dumb. After the birth of John, his mother said that he was to be named John, everyone argued with her for no one in her family was named John. They asked Zechariah and he was given a pad to write down his choice. As soon as he wrote the words “his name is John” his mouth was opened and out poured words of praise for God. God feared what John might say to stray from his plans, as soon as he knew he could trust John he was allowed to speak again.
The new testament demonstrated a more obvious power of words. This power in words could be easily confused with magical power. The Apostles of Jesus set forth many examples of how our words can have an immediate effect on the world that surrounds us. First we see the power of Jesus’ words. In Matthew 8:16 we see a demon possessed man who “with a word” Jesus freed from demons. It was not by magic, it was through the God power in his words. In Matthew 8:3 Jesus is approached by a man with leprosy; Jesus stated “Be Clean” and the man was healed. In Matthew 8:26 Jesus and his disciples are on a boat. In the middle of the night a violent storm rages and the disciples become scared and ask Jesus to save them. Jesus “rebukes” the wind and all is calm. In all of these examples it is nothing more than the word of Jesus that causes things to happen. Jesus was using the power that was apparent from the time the earth was created; it was available to him just as it is available to everyone else.
None of this is above nature, this is the natural way that things were supposed to work. It was by God’s word that the universe was created; it was by Jesus’ word that the sick were healed. Since Genesis says that we were made in God’s image then it is perfectly plausible for it to be part of our nature to be able to control nature as well. Jesus also gives us specific reasons to think that.
In the Gospel according to both Mark (11:12) and also Matthew (21:18) we see the episode of the fig tree. Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road and Jesus was hungry; he spied a fig tree and when they got closer they realized that there was no fruit on the tree, only leaves. Jesus said “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately, the story recounts, that the tree withered. All the disciples were amazed and asked Jesus how. Matthew 21:21 reads:
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain ‘Go throw yourself into the sea’ and it will be done.
Jesus also said in Matthew 17:20 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Jesus also said in Luke 17:6 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.” All of these are powerful examples of Jesus giving his power to us. As long as we believe that our words will have the desired affect, and believe that the power comes from God, no matter what we say will happen.
When we explore the world not through the eyes of Plato and his followers but through the eyes of ancient and common era Biblical writers we see that words have a different power. The magical properties or power in words does not necessarily extend from demons, nor does it have to come from supernatural forces. Even Al-Kindi’s somewhat ‘natural’ explanation of the power of words is very problematic in its’ complexity. When we use the Bible as our model for the universe we see how the universe was designed for us to control it, through the power of God. Our words have power over the universe when we believe in them. There is no limit to the power of our words, so much so that God himself has had to strike people dumb to protect his plans. Under this paradigm, words do not control the universe merely because of what they mean, but when used in conjunction with a belief in their efficacy. Because the power of words comes from the natural forces of God, than there is no real verbal magic, just religion.
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Bible references refer to the NIV version of the Bible.